Skip to main content

Tests

             Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)

 

          Before I started really considering this passage, I pulled almost all the plants out of my vegetable garden and started the process of paving it for the summer. It was time. Since I’m so close to heading north, my mood is nostalgic. I had a busy, productive winter full of blessings and opportunities to bless. There have also been trials, some of which I handled well and some of which I didn’t.

          As I consider today’s verse, the thing that I see is that I have a particular, and probably standard definition of “trial.”  A trial is a difficult, unpleasant thing. That leads us  in the direction of Job’s comforters, who saw a trial as proof that one was sinful. But God makes it clear in the book of Job that Job’s trials weren’t because he was wicked. And, the book of Job is not shared with us because Job does a perfect job of facing his trials.

          Perhaps the most important trials that Job faces as the ones summarized at the end of his story. God blesses him with twice as much lifestock and stuff, and as many children as he lost. In other words, yes, difficult times are trials, but so are health, wealth, power, fame, wisdom, knowledge, and all the good stuff that happens. For that matter, the things that don’t happen, or for which we are waiting are also trials.

          When we have stood those tests, we’re promised a crown of life and I suspect we tend to push this off into the distant future. We’ll gain eternal life, and some ornament that is the spiritual version of a gold star for having endured. But over the past three years, I seem to be blessed with a life that almost feels like a crown – or perhaps the better term would be reward. After waiting (seemingly) all of my life, never getting what would be considered a normal life, I’m living. I feel as though I have a long way to go to become what I want to be. In fact, I often feel like I have so many handicaps that I’ll never be anything more than a failure, but I guess I’m like Mephibosheth – dining at the King’s table.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more